Meet the Kit Professional #1 – John Devlin

Meet the Kit Professional is our series of interviews held with various ‘experts’ in football shirts. Our interviews will range from kit designers, to kit researchers, to football shirt addicts.

Our first interviewee was John Devlin, author of the True Colours books. John Devlin is a designer, illustrator and huge football fan who made it his life’s work to document the changing kit fashions of England’s major football clubs. John’s work infact includes two volumes seeing football kits from 1980 of various major English clubs.

Extract below from John’s website, showing this season’s Liverpool away shirt:

Q: When was the first time you started admiring football shirts?

When I was about 9 or 10 and I borrowed a book from  the library – The Observer Book of Football – and although it was only a tiny book it featured little shirt graphics showing the colours of all British teams. It was the first time I remember being really fascinated by the colour schemes and the idea of how they relate to the clubs. I also loved seeing the shirts presented in a graphical way. That was it – I was hooked! I became fascinated by kits at that point and it was the changing of kit designs and seeing the new strips unveiled at the start of the season that really got me interested.

Q: How did football shirt designs progress from those times to the present day?

This was the late 70s so everything was still itchy fabric and large clumsy collars. Silky shiny polyester fabric began to arrive in what I term the kit revolution of the early 80s when continental influences came to our shores. Badges began being placed centrally rather than over the heart as was the trend and designs became more modernist with less respect for tradition and heritage. In came pinstripes and shadow stripes followed later in the decade by baggy, garish shirts and more complex designs. The 90s was when replicas kits really became popular and in the early part of the decade as English football reinvented itself with the birth of the Premiership came a huge array of designs influenced by retro styles; collars, baggy shorts and historical motifs. In the 2000s designs became more minimalist and functional with fabric technology driving design leading up to today where there is a bit of a design ‘free for all’ with no real common style amongst kits and the personality/design ethos of the manufacturers now defining team kits.

Q:  What shirt in your opinion was/is the worst ever shirt design in football shirt history?

I don’t normally like to answer these kinds of questions as all design is subjective. But I have to say one of the worst for me was Newcastle’s adidas away kit for the 97-98 season. A dreadful combination of colours that had no relevance to the club’s past. To make it worse it was worn with, I think, three different pairs of shorts only one of which looked like it remotely matched the jersey!

Q: On a positive note, what is in your opinion the best ever shirt design in football shirt history?

It’s too difficult to pick one! Some of my favourites include Umbro’s Scotland home kit 88-91, the adidas 80-82 France home kit, Derby’s 97-99 away kit, Norwich’s Xara 04-06 away kit and the 90-93 Bolton home kit but there’s loads more. I also think the Umbro England 09-10 home shirt is a work of genius!

If pushed for my favourite it would have to be between adidas’ first away kit for Newcastle in 95-96, or Fulham’s 03-05 Puma strip.

I’m not a Newcastle fan but its funny how my worst ever kit and possibly best ever kit are both Toon outfits!

Q: Football shirts are associated with the pride and colours of a team however in modern times, clubs are said to be losing this factor. Would you agree that some clubs now don’t care how the shirt is designed as long as money keeps coming in?

No I wouldn’t agree with this. Granted there some strange decisions made on the kit front by the clubs but overall I think they are very aware of the opinions of fans – especially nowadays when new kits get such a lot of press. A football shirt not only has to reflect the identity/pride of the club it also has to earn its keep by featuring the branding of sponsors and kit manufacturers who pay big money for the right. Its just the nature of sportswear today. Recent years have also seen kits acting as links between club and community and also becoming icons for charitable causes which lifts them above being purely a money-making exercise. Of course replica sales are important (as is the money from sponsors and kit designers). Its vital that clubs find a balance between generating income, appeasing the fans and respecting the club’s heritage and I think recent years have seen them do this more successfully.

Q: Do you think it is ok for clubs to change shirts every season, so that every season has its shirt to remember? Or is this too greedy from the clubs and just a means to make more money?

I think they are forced into it by the current marketplace and many clubs believe they have no option. As I mentioned in the previous question I don’t believe it is solely a money making exercise however. Fashions change and teams have to look up to date. Clubs have always changed kits – even before replicas were reproduced. If people are still happy to buy replicas then that’s fine. However, having said that I do believe very strongly that the lifespan of a kit should be two years, not one. Replica sales aside, apart from anything else it makes the arrival of a new kit extra special if its not so frequent – there’s a danger of new kit overload where fans will eventually lose interest and sales may fall. A new kit launch has got to be a special, exciting event. I believe clubs and manufacturers are struggling a little in finding new ways to promote new kits due to their frequency.

Q. We are compiling a list of the top eleven shirts of the last decade, what shirts would you suggest we include in the list?

Following on from your earlier question I would my selection would be:

England 09-10 home kit

Norwich 04-06 away kit

Fulham 03-05 home kit

Wales 00-02 home kit

Celtic 03-04 home kit

Sunderland 00-01 away kit

Have a look at John’s website to read more about him and his work: www.truecoloursfootballkits.com

To order both of his books for a bargain £22.50, click here.

We would like to receive feedback from you asking us who you would like us to interview and if you have any interesting questions you would like us to ask them feel free to submit them to us either by commenting or by sending us your request on footballshirtsuk@gmail.com.

We’d also like to hear from you if you think you could be our next interviewee.